Comments on: The Tamil Issue: The Political Football of the Presidential Election

By: Tusker

Tusker — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:29:23 +0000

Dear Sanjana, Thank-you for taking the time to put Indi Samarajit in his place in a manner which makes me proud to be called Sri Lankan. I have noted that most people either fawn all over his blog or kick dirt in his face. [Edited out - please refrain from personal attacks and follow our guidelines, thank you]. Having said that, I note also, that other very credible and decent Sri Lankans and seriously it matters not if they are Sinahlese, Ceylonese or Pekinese, it matters that in a country where it is well documented, recorded and historical FACT; that if you speak out against a murderous regime or on behalf of Tamils, or for the rights of journalists, you WILL be targeted and you WILL be harmed. I fear this election because I think there is a terrible, terrible apathy amongst those who make up the ruling Sinhalese classes that if a mother of 5 gets gunned down like a dog or if there are now over 800 reported instances of election violence, it matters not. And why? Because they will still be ok. Because many of them have been hedging their bets and will immediately be able to switch alliances depending on who wins. [Edited out - please refrain from personal attacks and follow our guidelines, thank you] Either way, he like all others of his ilk and not dissimilar to what happened in Nazi Germany; will have blood on his hands and we may forgive, but we will remember and we will certainly seek justice. And at the risk of repeating myself, it will matter not if you are Sinhalese, Ceyonese, Pekinese or Tamil!

By: justice

justice — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:47:28 +0000

The lesson Sri Lanka should have learned was that Tamils and their representatives deserve respect and justice. Peace cannot be sustained if it is not based on justice for all.
The history of post-independence Sri Lanka is a history of taking Tamil peoples’ aspirations and Tamil political parties for a ride. We know the history of 1959, 1966, 1987 and 2000. Political solutions were put forward only to take those proposals back once the Sinhala nationalist groups started to roar. When the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) made a deal, the United National Party (UNP) opposed. When UNP made a deal SLFP opposed. Tamil political parties who believed in democratic politics were cheated and humiliated once and again by the Sinhala majority regimes. At the end, LTTE emerged to replace democratic politics in Tamil society. The 28 year war which was a result of continuous discrimination faced by Tamils at the hand of the Colombo ruling classes devoured tens of thousands of lives. The scars left by the war will remain for years to come.
These two paragraphs sums up the history very well.So called political scientist may twist and play with words but , this is the perception of the Tamil speaking people.Perception is reality.

By: punitham

punitham — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 07:21:59 +0000

http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/01/report_on_election_monitors_vi.html
”Unfortunately, these IDPs were not registered in the 2008 voter list as they were displaced prior to this. They are therefore not able to vote in the Presidential election.”